The Truth About Street Food

A common question among first-time travelers in China is whether or not to eat food bought on the street. Food stands are everywhere, and they offer everything from corn cobs on sticks, to meat kebobs, to shaved ice with fruit toppings. Generally, the word from travel agencies and play-it-safe tourists is not to eat anything found on the street. But after wandering around in China for a month, I have developed a slightly more moderate perspective on what's OK to eat here. These are some more lenient guidelines that should generally keep one safe when enjoying street food.**

1. Market fruit is almost always OK. Peeling is the best way to ensure cleanliness, but it's also perfectly acceptable to wash each piece thoroughly with boiled or bottled water. Everyone I know in China buys fruit from vendors on a regular basis, and none of us have gotten sick yet.
2 Don't eat street food during your first week in China. Lara and I went through a street market with a woman who was still jetlagged from her plane ride across the Pacific, and she had a much different reaction to the smells than we did. This also gives your body time to adjust before eating food that you aren't normally used to.
3. If you have a sensitive stomach, avoid meat altogether.
4. Make sure that everything you eat has pretty much had the crap cooked out of it, or can be washed by you before eating.
5. Bring a Chinese friend who knows what's what, and can help you distinguish between good food, and bad (this is mostly necessary when eating meat).
6. Use common sense. If it looks sketchy, DON'T EAT IT.
7. Know your stomach! If you've adjusted to being in China, a little street food probably will not kill you, but if you don't like to try new things, or get sick from unusual flavors/cooking styles, street food is probably not your thing.
8. Follow the strictest, by-the-book guidelines when eating outside of major cities, in areas with different diseases and lower-quality water supply. I've lived in cities the whole time I've been here, so I can only speak for buying market food in urban areas.

Of course, people have their horror stories, but in general, if you're walking around and see a really pretty fruit stand, go ahead! Rise your purchases off with a bottle of water, and you should be good to go!

**please note that these have been gathered from my experiences and those of my colleagues. I am not a medical doctor, and cannot guarantee that this advice is failproof.**